Vandervelde masterfully dresses singer-songwriter tunes that could exist just on acoustic guitar in beautiful studio psychedelics, but too often he lets his brillant sound palette subsitute for structural creativity. [Summer 2008, p.98]

Weller unveils an indulgent 21-track, hit-or-miss collection that has a scope, ambition and jazzy undercurrent which suggests Pete Townshend slumming in Vegas. [Summer 2008, p.98]

Reggie Youngblood's honest and witty dialogue of jealousy, loniness, and egotism vents interior frustrations while the other Kids synthesize sulk along the way. [Summer 2008, p.97]]

Lovefoxxx's metallic delivery and pseudo-rougish lyricism are crisp and poignant, laid out over the kinds of zippy, synth-pop digital landscapes that'll make even the most ardent Reaganomics-kiddie smile. [Summer 2008, p.94]

What Dr. Dog and its principal songwriters McMicken and Toby Leaman have done is carry on a tradition of soulful writing and musicianship. [Summer, 2008, p.90]

Self-referential, poetic, spoken-sung performances in dirty beer halls, Midwest anthems that make everyone raise those beers in the beer halls. [Summer 2008, p.92]

Though he has never had just one sonic home, and Modern Guilt is no exception to this rule, Beck is somehow more aware while puffing out his waves of broken poetry as opposed to the casual seed-spitting he has been known to turn to. [Summer 2008, p.91]

Here and there the noodling is drawn-out and the point could be gotten-to quicker, but this mishmash--reggae, rock, and jazz, for instance--shows Hammond exploring and stretching his own bounds as a songwriter and drummer Matt Romano as producer. [Summert 2008, p.96]

Exit Strategy Of The Soul will serve as his most accesible release to date; simply from the craftman's decision to become rooted somewhere...anywhere. [Summer 2008, p.92]

Unlike its second effort, LP3 offers a sense of adventure through some potent modes of de-familiarization. [Summer 2008, p.92]

Shield's stark and shimmering shoegaze guitars expand and contract like colossal organs under Smith's chameleonic spoken word. [Summer 2008, p.97]

Lovers of perverse pop, rejoice! [Summer 2008, p.92]

The duo might just be a match made in heaven, as Hymn and Her is one of the most cohesive two-voiced albums in recent history. [Summer 2008, p.94]

Butler and company have crafted a brilliant tribute to the glorious euphoria of getting down in the big city. [Summer 2008, p.96]

For those who grew acquainted to the sounds of the Twins when they helped turn Jenny Lewis' more-or-less first solo effort into an artistic coup de grace, you will rejoice with the mix of sunshine and crunch on Fire Songs. [Spring 2008, p.105]

Digi Snacks shouldn't be considered or approached as a complete meal, but it should tide you over till the next full serving of Wu. [Summer 2008, p.94]

Like Brock and even Andrew Bird, Sam Jayne can slipstream between genres without missing a heartbeat. [Spring 2008, p.96]

Originally releasesd in Japan, the twelve-track American release is a sonic smorgasboard. [Summer 2008, p.102]

Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea is the most assured and poignant album since the band's third, "American Water." [Spring 2008, p.97]

As equivocal as its title but just as emotionally arresting, A Thousand Shark's Teeth is magnificently bewitching, while eerie and spectral. [Spring 2008, p.96]

This is one of the quintessential L.A. albums, for its fireworks of fame and celebrity are stripped naked and left to wander. [Spring 2008, p.94]

Much more solid than their latest records...sounds like a bit of the old Charlatans. [Spring 2008, p.100]

Urges is front-loaded with the "new direction" material.... The second half of the album largely abandons techno trickery and soul balladry for the lush alt-country fans have come to expect. [Spring 2008, p.91]

For now, via tracks like 'High Noon' and 'Mother Nature,' they continue to ride high in the saddle on much the same sine waves they engineered in the previous millennium. [Summer 2008, p.100]

Every song on this record pulsates with so many heart-thumping beats per minute, you'd think this was some newfangled cardiovascular exercise for ravers. [Spring 2008, p.99]

The results is a mix of creep and fabulous dance hits that will neither change the world nor excite you to start any fires. [Spring 2008, p.97]

Anywhere I Lay My Head is a starling achievement not because Ms. Scarlett has simply managed to cleverly re-imagine some assemblage of Tom Wait songs, but rather, because she has seized upon precisely why they affected us so much the first time round. [Spring 2008, p.91]